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01/25/13

Where to start?

One of my biggest joys is getting to talk to adoptive mommas who are just starting the process.

They are so expectant. so excited for what God is going to do. they have no idea that where they are now, will soon end with something similar to the image above. beautiful, sent from god child(ren)!

one thing about these mommas is they are a sponge for information.

I remember when we decided to adopt, we didn’t have any real life friends who had adopted, and didn’t know the first thing to do! It did seem scary & foreign and totally new.

So I love getting to talk to moms, answer their questions, connect them with people/agencies/resources because when I didn’t know anyone and I was calling random people I found online and friends of friends of friends & I loved it when people helped me. and my general philosophy in life is to pay it forward!people helped me – so I want to help people.

So really there are about a dozen posts I have in my head to write, and I will get there.
they include: fundraising, choosing a country, fundraising, people raising, ha.

but I do have these nifty little pages on my blog that if you are reading from reader or bloglovin’ you might not know about. I have one called “adoption” and there you can find a little bit about our story, our timeline, a few videos, and some resources for you & your journey.

Here’s just a little clip of the resource section (at the bottom)

Together for Adoption – amazing adoption conference, and outstanding resourcesNoonday Collection – consider becoming an ambassador to raise funds for your adoption or simply host a trunk show!Give1Save1 – features a different family each week to raise money for their adoption147 million orphans – fundraising program & awesome adoption gearProject Hopeful – education on adopting HIV+/AIDS orphansGenerations Adoptions – another amazing agency, specializing in Ugandan adoptionsReece’s Rainbow – information on adopting children with special needsShow Hope – offers grants to adoptive familiesAbba Fund – financial solutions for adoptionsRainbow Kids – guidelines for each country, waiting children’s listsStephen & I are conference junkies and our whole story from when we said YES started when we went to a Together for Adoption conference. Something about worshiping, being taught from and meeting 900 other people who all had a heart for adoption that sparked something inside of us. It connected us with several key organizations that have sense become a huge part of our story (noonday collection, Visiting Orphans).

But after that, we started researching agencies. Every country has it’s own requirements, and we quickly learned that out of all the African countries, we met the qualifications of Ethiopia.

If you are unfamiliar, these qualifications include things such as: your age, how long you’ve been married, how many kids you have at home, etc. Ethiopia requirements are you have to be 25 years old & married for 1 (or is it 2?) years.

in the resources section, rainbow kids is a great place to get a good look at all countries agencies. So if you are not sure where you want to adopt from, or what countries you qualify for – that is a good place to start.

so…that’s really all for today. just a quick glimpse into how our story started & some resources to hopefully help answer some of your questions.

Once I get my blog all re-organized + designed I hope to make it easier for you to find older posts that might be able to help you. but until then….hope this helped!

feel free to ask questions & if I know the answer I’d be glad to help!

ps – right now actually I’m at an amazing adoptive mommas retreat called Created for Care. so, you should look it up & look into it for march or next year!

*have a good weekend friends, I’m signing off through the weekend to be present at the retreat! I’ll answer all questions/comments next week when I get home!

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Comments

Yay! Thank you so much for this blog post. I am RIGHT HERE, and I am soaking it up. Thanks for taking the time to write it all down for us- your story, your thoughts and emotions, and the how-to-get-it-done stuff, too!

oh man thank you for sharing this Wynne!! Like I told you, Jon and I know the Lord has plans for us to adopt and I already think about finances (which is selfish I know) but I will definitely be coming to you for resources!! Have a fun weekend with other mamas!

Thanks for sharing and I look forward to more information. I know adoption is probably in our future due to my issues with staying pregnant. I want to adopt within the US, not sure if you have any resources for that or not but I would love to know.

you are so welcome! adoption is a beautiful thing. i don’t personally know as much about domestic adoption but this comment made me think that I need to get friends who do know to write about it on here! so thanks 😉

a) your kiddos are adorable. b) Asher’s hair is growing! 🙂 c) you were totally one of the first people I talked to about adoption, I love that you were so willing to share and d) I agree so much with this post, I love talking to other ladies who are thinking about starting the adoption process!

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Hey, I’m Wynne!

hey friend, I'm so happy you are here! I've forever been fueled by a desire to connect and create, and I've found my passion in encouraging women to not just SURVIVE, but to THRIVE! I love sharing practical ways I've seen my own life transformed from stressed out, tired and overwhelmed to living WHOLE and FREE! come join me, you belong here!

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